In this satirical look at the vagaries of Canadian politics from Oscar-nominated director Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), an independent M.P. suddenly finds himself thrust into the parliamentary spotlight, and it’s up to his young Haitian intern to help the hapless backbencher navigate the complexities and pitfalls of Parliament Hill.

In this satirical look at the vagaries
of Canadian politics from Academy
Award-nominated director Philippe
Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), a Member
of Parliament finds himself thrust suddenly
into the spotlight, and it's up to his
young Haitian intern to help the hapless
backbencher navigate the complexities
and pitfalls of Parliament Hill.

A Conservative minority government
trying to pass a bill that will enable them
to go to war suffers a setback when one of
the Tory MPs falls ill — leaving the key vote
for the government's warmongering initiative
in the hands of independent MP Steve
Guibord (Patrick Huard), a former hockey
player whose pro career fizzled.

Feverishly courted by the Tories and
subjected to a moral tug of war at home
— his ambitious wife (Suzanne Clément)
wants him to vote Yes; his peacenik daughter
(Clémence Dufresne-Deslières), No
— Guibord is unable to decide.

As the vote nears and Guibord is beset on
all sides — with demands and threats also
coming from a group of hard-right local
politicos, First Nations protesters, and
peace organizations — salvation arrives
in the form of his new intern, Souverain
(Irdens Exantus), a young Haitian student
who knows considerably more about the
ins and outs of our parliamentary system
than does his boss.

Not only a witty and incisive portrait
of wheeling and dealing in Ottawa,
My Internship in Canada also exposes
Canadians' tendency to focus on the regional
and specific at the expense of the wider picture.
As Falardeau's gently skewering satire
demonstrates, sometimes it takes a person
from another country to explain to us the
workings — and the value — of the unique
system that makes our democracy (sometimes)
function.